Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Three-Ways / Mike Markel

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Author:

Mike Markel
teaches writing at Boise State University. In addition to the Seagate and Miner
Mystery series (this is the fourth in that series) he has written eight
non-fiction books on writing and numerous articles for various publications.

Grad
student Austin Sulenka is found in bed, dead from strangulation. Detectives
Seagate and Miner investigate. The
philandering student has a plethora of people who might have motive. Will the
detectives be able to uncover the guilty party?

Appraisal:

I like
police procedurals, mysteries with a cop, usually a detective, as the
protagonist. The mystery part matters
(obviously), but what sets one book or series apart from another, raising it
from average to great, is how I relate to the protagonist. Their personality,
sense of humor, and backstory all figure into that reaction, along with their
intelligence and cleverness in solving the crimes they’re investigating. I’ll
come back to the protagonist in a bit.

One thing I
look for in a book is a sense of place. If it takes place in an actual town or
city, does the author get the details correct? Seagate and Miner are detectives
in Rawlings, a fictional college town in Montana. Rawlings is generic enough to keep the author
out of trouble by not having to worry about getting details of a specific town
correct, yet has enough character to feel like it could be one of several
actual places. (The only actual town in Montana that figured into the story
beyond a brief mention, the author nailed the details, right down to the name
of a real motel and its description.)

The mystery
in the story was a good one, with Seagate and Miner uncovering lots of suspects
with possible motives, having to investigate and attempt to eliminate each one.
The climax was exciting and even though at that point whodunit was apparent, it
took an unexpected twist, with Miner doing several things that seemed out of
character for him, but made sense in the end.

This brings
us back to the protagonist. Or maybe I should say protagonists. Although some
might view Karen Seagate as the protagonist since she’s the lead character and,
in this case, narrator, I viewed her partner, Ryan Miner, as co-protagonist.
They’re a team, even if Seagate is the lead detective who calls the shots.
Seagate is a foul-mouthed recovering alcoholic with an in-your-face attitude.
Miner is a Mormon who would probably describe himself as a bit of a Boy Scout. They’re
always giving each other a hard time, but there is never any doubt that despite
their differences, they view themselves as a team and have mutual respect. The
dynamics of these two opposites working together added a lot for me, not only
in the humor inherent in such a pairing, but the different knowledge and
viewpoint each brought to the investigation. This team has a lot of potential
as the series continues.

FYI:

Lots of
adult language and themes.

Although
this is the fourth book in the Seagate and Miner Mystery series, the book can
be read as a standalone.

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